Giveaway: Chick-fil-A Premium Salads

When we are on the go, one of our favorite places to grab a healthy bite to eat is Chick-fil-A!! We have been fans of Chick-fil-A for years and now that we have a picky eating toddler on our hands, Chick-fil-A is our #1 choice!  Not only is the food made with premium ingredients, but the family friendly restaurant & service always makes for a very pleasant experience.

For years my personal favorite is the #1 value meal: the original Chick-fil-A sandwich, fries and a drink...oh, and I never for get the special Chick-fil-A sauce!

But I am thinking it is time for a change, a change from my original favorite, to a healthier option.  We are almost halfway through 2013 and with summer quickly approaching, it is time for our family to get active and eat healthier!

I was excited to hear that Chick-fil-A recently introduced 3 new premium salads and an improved wrap all under 430 calories. I am excited to try the New Grilled Market Salad (2 servings of veggies & 1 serving of fruit).  This salad is only 180 calories, an excellent source of vitamin A & C, and rich in antioxidants.

Premium Ingredients include:

sliced grilled chicken

chopped romaine lettuce & baby greens

red cabbage

carrots

fresh apples, strawberries, & blueberries

roasted nut blend

harvest nut granola

crumbled blue cheese

Chick-fil-A has graciously allowed me to host a giveaway where one lucky reader will WIN 2 free Chick-fil-A Salad coupons.

Here's how to enter:
*take the Are You a Starter? Quiz, by clicking on the link below.
*leave a blog post comment telling me which Fresh Made Chick-Fli-A item you would like to try!

Additional Entries (leave a blog comment below telling me that you did each one of these):
*follow Chick-fil-A on Twitter
*Tweet about the New Premium Salad options, be sure to include Chick-Fil-A & the hashtag #Freshmade in your tweet
*LIKE Chick-fil-A on facebook
*Like Our Journey as Rookie Parents Blog on Facebook
*Follow ME on Twitter

Contest ends Friday May 24th at midnight! Good Luck!!

Chick-fil-A believes that now is the time to..."take your taste buds to greener pastures."




*Chick-fil-A provided me with 2 salad coupons to give away to a lucky reader, all opinions are my own.

V’s New Love…

Greg and I decided around V’s 2nd birthday, back in February, that we were going to make a big purchase for our home this spring.  Little did I know if would be more like an investment…I started the research for a swing set in March.  Omg, there were soo many different styles, features and price ranges. I was easily overwhelmed. What to get? Where to buy? Quality? Style? Brand? Ahhhh…  I actually came across this Metropolis and my jaw dropped.

I had a few requirements in my search, it had to have 2 swings, a slide, climbing wall and look aesthetically pleasing (since it would be in our side yard for all to see).  I read review after review for hours… many of them saying the same thing, the wooden swing sets wear over time if you do not waterproof them year after year.  I love the look of a wooden swing set, but I wasn’t so sure I would like it after 10 years, after all this is an investment! Ha! 

I started researching steel options, which was pretty easy because most are super expensive (out of our price range) and overall, there really are not a ton of options to choose from.  I finally settled on one that had all of my requirements, in the colors I wanted, awesome reviews, and was at a price that we could afford.  I made the purchase online and within 2 weeks we had a pallet delivered to our house.  It was so convenient to have it delivered to our house, I cannot imagine the hassle of trying to fit this into our SUV.

The next step was to arrange for help.  Another thing I continued to review in the reviews was that the assembly process took HOURS to complete.  So we picked a date that worked for both grandpas to come up and help Greg.  Unfortunately it also happened to be one of the coldest days of the spring, I think it actually snowed for a short period of time that day, poor guys.  The assembly started in the garage in an effort to keep warm and even V wanted to help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She got a little carried away when no one was paying attention to her. “Look Mommy, Snooooow"!” (Greg was not too happy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a short time in the garage it was time to start transporting all of the materials to The Spot that would become the new home of the swing set. V did not waste any time testing out the swing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They started this project around 10am and with only a break for lunch, they finished around 4pm the same day.  They were very dedicated to building this thing in the freezing cold.  They even chain sawed a tree during one of their breaks.  I am so luck to have a handy husband, dad and father-in-law!

V took an extra long nap on this day and by the time she woke up the swing set was READY for her!  We took a video of her first experience with her new love, it was priceless.  I actually had to dig out her winter coat and hat because it was so cold on this day, but that did not stop her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This face pretty much says it all…she is in LOVE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much daddy, grandpa and pappy for building the swing set V has loved it ever since she laid eyes on it!

These will be the first of many swing set pictures on the blog!

It is going to be a FUN summer at our house!!

My Rock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock as in Rockstar.  He was a Rockstar long before I ever met him…ha

I am not usually one to gush obsessively about my husband via social media, I actually find it annoying when other people engage in this type of thing. Greg is an amazing husband and father, I know and everyone that has met him also knows this about him, but sometimes things happen and you need your husband more than you ever thought you could possibly need someone. 

And it is more than just needing him, it is needing him to be the strong, confident, supportive, loving husband during a time of uncertainty.   I have been on an emotional roller coaster for a looong time, waaaay longer than I really want to think about.  And he has not always been perfect at handling my changing emotions, but we have talked through the hard times, I have shared what I need from him, and he has learned from past experiences. I can proudly say that now, when I needed him to be strong, confident and loving he was, and he never waivered. 

He was my Rock.

Our love is so strong, and I learned this week that we can get through anything as long as we have each other.  I feel like I should have always know this, but sometimes things in life happen, and I was reminded of just how strong we are as a couple.

I want V to know just how important her daddy is to me and I would be lost without all of his love, support and confidence.

 

 

In St. Lucia celebrating our honeymoon in 2010.

 

Easter Sunday, a Few Months Late

I have clearly fallen off the blogging wagon, and have a million posts to catch up on, but there are still some really cute pictures from Easter Sunday at Grammy & Papa’s in NY that I have never posted.  After an early church service, we returned to Grammy’s to hunt for eggs and Easter baskets! V loved finding the eggs with the candy in them, she didn’t care too much for the ones that were empty….smart girl.  Greg made a yummy brunch and we relaxed the rest of the day with family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Sunday in a Very Special Church

 

 

Every year when we celebrate Easter in New York,  Greg & I look forward to attending a very special church.  A church that is not only a house of God, where we celebrate and worship, but a place where some of the most special moments in our lives have been created.  A place that fills me with emotion every time I walk in the door.  It is a place like no other place.

Every time we attend this church I remember our wedding and Victoria’s baptism.  There is something about visiting a place where some of your most cherished memories were created that allows you to remember every detail as if they happened yesterday.

On September 5, 2009, I remember walking into that church filled with so much love and excitement, it was the only time in my life where every single person we loved and cared about were all in the same place at the same time. When those church doors opened, I was overwhelmed with emotion.  This picture says it all…

When people ask what is the one most memorable moments of your wedding, this moment is a the top. I am so glad the photographer captured it.

Not only were we married in this church, but Victoria was baptized on Father’s Day weekend 2011 in this church. (she was baptized in NY so that Great Grandma could attend, one of the very last memories before she passed away the following month) I will never forget the Priest taking time out of the Baptismal ceremony to comment on Victoria’s name, and how she was named after her Great Grandma.  He said that her name will hold a beautiful legacy of the love her Great Grandma has for her.  I looked over at my gram and she was beaming with pride and love, again, I was so full of emotion.  I was so happy that she was there, a devout Catholic, to see her first great grandbaby become welcomed into the Catholic church.  Needless to say, this church is a place that holds some of the our most emotional memories and has a very special place in our hearts.

 

This post was originally intended to be our Easter post, but then it took a different direction, one that lead me to going through pictures & video clips of our wedding and Victoria’s baptism. Which made me so thankful, that we have been given this beautiful life together as a family.

 

Back to Easter…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprisingly, V did very well in church (we came well prepared), she stayed in the pew and we passed her around like a hot potato between Greg, Grammy and myself.

We grabbed a few pictures outside of church with Uncle Eric before he headed off to Buffalo with his girlfriend for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After church, we went back to Grammy’s house for an Easter brunch and an egg and basket hunt.

V was lucky to receive 3 Easter baskets because the bunny very busy and went to grandpas, mommy & daddys and grammy & papas house!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures of the egg hunt and the rest of our Easter celebration will be in the next post!  Stay tuned…